Chapter 1

With a slow hand Besha
knelt and put the last stone on the grave.

“Goodbye, Mama,”
she whispered.

Her mother was the last
member of her family, except for a brother she had never met. Tran
had left two years before she was born, after a fight with their
father. Both men too stubborn to make peace, the younger Havern had
left to seek his own fate in the world.

She turned to look back
over the village in the valley below. The ones who had come to say
goodbye with her, started to make their way back. Besha wasn't yet
ready to leave. She turned back to the headstone and rested her hand
upon its cold black head.

Memories of being read
to, smells of bread baking, and the courage even at Isabé's last
moments assailed her. So many memories.

“I will find
him, Mama. I will keep my promise,” she whispered, ignoring the
tears that dripped onto her too washed dress. Alone. So alone.

When the south wind
dragged the dark clouds from the ocean, she wiped her face with her
sleeve. With a last touch to the weathered stone next to her
mother's, Besha got up and retreated slowly as a last goodbye.

The darkness descending
over the village drowned out the sun's rays, but for a sliver hanging
on over the eastern horizon. It wouldn't rain, not yet, but the
dreariness and the rising damp only made her feel cold and more
miserable.

Even though grief rested
heavily on her shoulders, she noticed the three people waiting for
her at the cottage. Wariness dragged its own weight into the fray.

“Robert. Sarah.
Evan,” she acknowledged the mayor, his wife and son.

“Bethesda,”
the mayor began, “with your family no longer with us, I feel that
we should hasten the wedding.”

The eager faces next to
his made her angry. She considered venting her pain. She had never
liked the bully Evan had become, and had never actually said that she
would marry him. They all assumed she would fall in with their plans,
simply because she had lost her family. For a moment she considered
reminding them about Tran, but bit her lip at the last moment.

Instead she sighed the
sigh of the weary. “Not now please. I have just buried my mother. I
cannot think about this right now.”

Evan grabbed her arm.
“Don't you look down at me, missy. No one else will have you, not
with that pitiful dowry. You will crawl to me with or without
marriage.”

She knew he believed
that. And that was what she had feared all along. With her mother
bedridden, she had not left the house much and too many people
visited for him to catch her alone. Her reprieve was buried this day.
And he was not going to wait. He had never liked it when she said no,
and that archaic law of a public claim was way too fresh in
everyone's minds. After Sonja and Adam used that to prevent her
parents from marrying her off to a guy she couldn't stand. It was too
risky to push Evan, and she wanted to have say in choosing her own
mate.

She didn't believe for a
moment that he cared about her. Neither was he going to be faithful.
It was the one thing she would not tolerate. Her parents might have
had their problems. but they respected one another. She wanted that.
The way Evan looked at her or any woman told her that respect was the
last thing on his mind.

She suppressed the
revulsion, nodded to his parents, and opened the door without another
word.

Inside she locked the
door, ignoring his taunt that a locked door wouldn't stop him.

His father wielded too
much power in this village for her to seek the help or support from
her neighbours. She didn't have many friends and they would be
powerless against Evan's threats. Neither did she want their lives to
become difficult because of her.

There was only one thing
to do - she had to leave...tonight.

She had always planned
to leave especially when it became clear that her mother was not
improving, but not so soon. At least she wanted some time so say
goodbye and arrange to have the cottage looked after while she
travelled. But there was no time. A quick glance at her timepiece
told her that she had about two hours before sunset. Not much time at
all.

They never had much in
terms of worldly goods, so there wasn't much for her to pack. She
would have to carry everything on the hike, since she couldn't afford
to waste what little currency she had on a transport. She changed out
of the dress into pants, a shirt and warm coat. Her only pair of good
shoes made way for her work boots. She dug out her old school
backpack and eyed it with a critical eye.

The canvas fabric was
still in good condition. Quickly emptying it of any left over notes
and pens, she stuffed it with two pairs of fresh underwear and socks,
a clean shirt, a hat, her only pair of gloves and the bare
necessities for personal hygiene. Giving her long hair a hard look,
she decided to pack a pair of scissors, but not waste any time now to
cut it. A quick braid would have to do.

Next she inspected the
food stores. Meagre as they were. It was late spring, so there could
be some things she could forage along the way. It reminded her that
she needed a good knife. It took a moment to find her dad's old
hunting knife at the back of the cupboard. It was still sharp. It
went into a side pocket of the bag.

Digging around for a
suitable bag, other containers would be too heavy, she packed all the
dried food she could find. Some things would need water to
reconstitute it before it would be edible, but it would last longer
than fresh food. A bottle for water would be good. A spoon and bowl
was added. She spotted her mother's home made first aid kit. Quickly
bagging it before she changed her mind she tested the weight of the
bag. Not too heavy.

She stood back and bit
her thumb nail trying to figure out what she had forgotten. Fire. The
moment she spun around, the sun's last rays fell onto the window
sill.

Time was up. Quickly
grabbing matches, a lightweight fibre blanket that could also serve
as a rain coat, and the sandwiches she had made for lunch but
couldn't stomach before the service. She was ready.

Slowly zipping up the
pack, she turned around the kitchen and did a last tour of the
cottage. In her mother's bedroom, she ran her hands over the freshly
made bed. Despite the odour of the sick that still clung to the air,
she inhaled Isabé's favourite jasim based perfume. The tiny amethyst
flowers in the predominantly white room, always reminded her of the
jasim which grew wild in the country side around the village. The
wild flower was difficult to harvest for making perfume, but she
recalled the joy that day when Isabé got it right.

A gentle finger traced
the bottle on the dressing table before abruptly turning around.

In her own bedroom, she
collected the letter to her best friend, written weeks ago, stuffed
it in an envelope with the keys. Her mobile had to stay. So did her
books and sewing. She would miss those the most.

Besha took a deep breath
and looked up at the ceiling to keep the tears from spilling. A
breath-like caress infused warmth and love over her cheek. She didn't
open her eyes because there was no one.

“Be safe,
child,” she could have sworn were spoken from her mother's lips.

“I will, Mama,”
she whispered and swung the pack to her shoulders.

Leaving a light on, she
was after all a night owl, she left the house via the backdoor. It
was the closest to Sonja's home and faced away from the street.

With slow and vigilant
movements Besha stepped out to leave the only place she had ever
known.

Sonja Trage walked into
her bedroom to get a book, when she saw an envelope slip through the
open window and plop onto the chair below. Rushing forward she pulled
the curtain away.

A tear slipped down her
cheek when she saw the raised hand of the departing figure.

“Be safe, my
friend,” she whispered.

Dropping the curtain
into place, she took the envelope, and hid it at the back of her
closet behind her heaviest winter boots.

Collecting the book from
her nightstand, she wiped her cheek.

“Honey,” she
called out as she left the bedroom, “would you like some tea or
coffee?”

Besha knew she was
wasn't in the clear yet, even though she had left the village behind.
Hours of sticking to shadows and keeping away from any high traffic
areas, she stopped behind a large tree to catch her breath and take a
sip of water. She had yet to eat the sandwiches, but didn't want to
linger. It was still too close to the village.

Her first destination
was not that far away. She only told Sonja that she would leave, but
never where she needed to go to. It was better that way.

After returning the
bottle to the pack, she stretched her shoulders and adjusted the
weight of it to a more comfortable spot. To the casual observer she
might look like a runaway, but she knew exactly where she was headed.
She just didn't plan on walking there. If she hadn't been in such a
hurry to leave, she could have sold some furniture or other things to
be able to pay for her passage.

There was no time to cry
over could-have-beens. She pushed away from the tree and started
walking once more, holding thumbs that no one would think she would
go to the Whispering Forest.

She didn't meet anyone
on the way, but didn't relax her guard. It was better if she wasn't
spotted by anyone. She wouldn't put it past Evan to send out a search
party for her.

Another shiver rolled
down her spine when she thought of him and she paused to listen and
look around. It was dark with almost no artificial light in the
vicinity. She wasn't taking any chances by using the tiny flashlight
she had in her pocket. Better not to alert anyone and draw attention
to herself.

Wea One was a
semi-desert, but the area where she had lived all her life was filled
with trees and mountains. Not much water, so it was only green during
the short rain season, which would start in a week or two.

Spotting lights ahead
she froze and crouched down behind a bush. She sat there for a few
minutes trying to decide what the reason was for the lights in the
middle of an open field. Laughter reached her ears when a slight
breeze started to blow from the direction of the lights.

People. And they were
camping. Irritated at them, she scouted around for a way to avoid
them without being seen. She was in no mood to be accosted by drunks.

Leaning towards the
other side she noticed more bushes ahead, about the same size as her
present hiding place. It looked like a lane of some kind, judging by
the curve in which the bushes were planted. Taking care not to run,
she made her way along the curve always watching and pausing behind a
bush to check.

It took an agonising
amount of time to skirt around the campers. They were quite loud, but
she wasn't taking any chances. By the time she felt safe from being
seen by them, she was tired and hungry.

Taking a minute to rest
and drink water, she considered her options for sleeping. She had to
rest for a few hours. The village where Isabé had told her Tran
lived was another three to four days' walk. It would be stupid not to
rest when she could.

There was an abandoned
building up ahead, but it was too obvious. There might also be others
taking shelter there. She squinted. The moon peeked out from behind
the heavy clouds. There seem to be some trees on the other side of
the building.

Adjusting the pack, she
grimaced at the weight, she set off towards the building. Close to
it, she could hear what sounded like snoring.

Sneaking around the
back, she found the trees. They were bigger than she thought and
perfect for what she had in mind. A last look around, and standing
motionless to listen for a minute, she decided that it was safe
enough before she reached for the first branch.

A couple of birds
scattered in a flurry of feathers and irritated chirps.

She froze.

No human sounds
followed.

She reached upwards
again. Picking a spot to her left, she carefully removed the pack and
anchored it against a broken branch before settling in, stretching
her legs out along the bark.

The sandwiches were no
longer neatly assembled, but she ate them anyway. Alert to the fact
that her next meal might be many hours away, she ate slowly. Her eyes
started drooping after the last crumb had been consumed. Reaching for
the pack, she untied the straps and tied them around her and a
branch. It would hopefully keep her and the pack from falling as she
napped.

Chapters

MegaRogueLegend666:
I love this story so much. It's impossible to describe my excitement with each new chapter in words. The author has such a good writing style, very good descriptions of the fighting and character descriptions/emotions. the plot is also amazing! This fanfic could be a side anime show or novel ......

MavisMcQueen:
"To Live Again" is a well crafted, highly engaging, heart vibrating tale surrounding our favorite Elven King. The author will keep you engrossed until the very end and by that time you will feel so strongly for Clara and the other characters that you will never want it to end...like ever. Thrandu...

europeanlove:
I gotta hand it to you. I love reading. I read books everyday. When the book is good I can read it in probably 13 hours. Your story was amazing. Great prose, very imaginative. Incredible dialogue. I am deeply impressed. Keep it up.

Hawkebat:
Playing both Kotor I & II and Swtor I found the story line interesting and it held me until chapter 35 Very good story and plot flow until then, very few technical errors. I felt that the main character was a bit under and over powered, as it fought for balance. The last few chapters felt too f...

Nymeria:
Really can't get enough of this story. It flows well, it captivates the reader from page 1, and throws you into such a well-written, well conceptualized world that you'll believe it's real. Everything in the book is meshed together really well. From character backgrounds to plot twists, you can t...

Alex Rushmer:
This was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it a lot Malfoy was always one of the characters that I liked a lot, so I like that a lot of this happens between him and Colette. I read the first couple chapters, and I enjoyed your writing style and am excited to see where you take this story. My com...

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This is a very interesting book - mostly because the heroine is quite charming and well rounded, and has very real issues to manage in her life. Most of all,. I loved the view inside of the life of a South Asian girl/woman, the emotional self-talk, the customs and preferences, the expectations a...

Chris Rolfe:
BOY!!! I sure love what Aer-Ki Jyr did with this series. IMHO he captured the essence of what stargate is all about. Thru out the Stargate stories Aer-Ki wrote Stevens and John Shepard some of the main characters in his stories are pursued by a corrupt I.O.A.. All the while Stevens is changing in...

CookieMonster911:
The story overall was an adventure that is appealing to any age. The way the characters develop adds a more human characteristic to the novel. The writing style itself is amazing because you can learn every character's thoughts and emotions. The awkward love triangle and jerk moments adds to the ...

_JosephJacobson_:
I don't understand why this has such low ratings. I really enjoyed it!I think that the whole idea behind the plot had something very special and that was something that I really enjoyed. It was new, unique. I think that some of the writing was a little strange in places but overall it made sense ...

summerstone:
Seriously this is one of the best books I've ever read. The plot is intriguing, I love the narrative style. Its very descriptive and unique, with minimal cliches. It makes for a great read and the sequels are amazing. Totally worth reading. ^^ That's me trying to be professional. But in all hones...

Lauren Suzmeyan-Raine:
I'm so glad you found a place to post your stories. I was horrified when I saw yours had been taken down, they are definitely the best 'reading' stories I've ever read. And I've made it my business to read every one I can. Well done.Lauren